Hawks Draft Lucas Nogueira and Dennis Schroeder in First Round

The Atlanta Hawks have selected Lucas Nogueira and Dennis Schroeder with the 16th and 17th picks in the 2013 NBA Draft, the former of the two being acquired from Dallas along with Jared Cunningham and a second-round pick in exchange for the 18th pick.

Nogueira and Schroeder are both imports from overseas, Lucas a center from Brazil and Schroeder a point guard from Germany.

Nogueira’s 7’6″ wingspan tops off an impressive 7-foot frame, and is a renowned rebounder and shot-blocker in the ACB league, averaging 10 boards and 3 blocks per 40 minutes of action. Nogueira also shot over 66% from the field during this past season.

I spoke to Nogueira (with help from his agent who was kind enough to translate the quick back-and-forth) after the Draft to hear some of his thoughts surrounding heading to Atlanta. I first asked how excited he was to play with a talented big such as Al Horford:

“He’s a very, very good player and a player well known around the world. It’s going to be a great experience and (Nogueira) has a lot to learn from him.”

I then asked Nogueira how quickly he could make a defensive impact in the NBA:

“The league in Spain is like the second-best league in the world, and (Nogueira) was able to do well there. (Nogueira) will do as much as he can to make an impact right away and help his team.”

Schroeder’s wingspan also shows promise for his perimeter defense, standing at 6’2″ with a 6’7″ wingspan. Schroeder is a terrific pick-and-roll player and we should anticipate seeing a lot of this from him playing alongside Al Horford.

Nogueira could potentially be the Hawks’ starting center as a defensive anchor alongside Horford, moving the All-Star to the power forward position. Schroeder’s future is unknown, as what the Hawks will do with current point guard Jeff Teague is still a question mark.

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[…] As it turns out, after some begging and application of my 17-year old puppy dog face, his agent was kind enough to translate between Lucas and I for a couple of questions. Finally. You can catch the quick interview here. […]